After weathering the advent of Amazon and the closures of the pandemic, it may seem like a difficult time for local bookstores. But the American Booksellers Association is reporting their highest membership in 20 years, with nearly 300 members added since 2019.
In Peoria, local used bookstores are not just surviving, but adapting and thriving.
If you visit the Book Rack in Peoria’s Oak Cliff Shopping Center, you’ll be greeted by the soft ringing of a windchime above the door. Stacy Hardin says she kept the chimes as a tradition from the original owner.
Hardin took over the store about seven years ago, but the Book Rack has been in operation since the 1970’s. Now, it’s home not just to the Book Rack, but Hardin’s own candle business and a variety of “bookish merchandise.”
“I think a lot of people just think that you just get the books and you throw them on the shelves and that’s just it and you can sit down and read all day,” said Hardin. “And it’s definitely not how that works.”
Hardin says she can get hundreds of trade-in books in a day. Every book must be cleaned, priced, inventoried, sorted and alphabetized among the aisles of shelves, nooks, and crannies.
Across town on University Street, Book Nook General Manager Cheryl Langley sorts through a similarly labyrinthine collection of books. The Book Nook also has a second location in Washington.
Langley started at the Book Nook eight years ago. About four years ago, the store began posting their entire inventory on Amazon.
“Which has helped make ends meet on certain days,” Langley said. “And, you know, unfortunately the online business is not going to go anywhere. So, we might as well take a piece of that as well.”
The Book Rack has also innovated in some ways over the years. Hardin says she's expanded their selection of gift shop items, things like branded clothing, coasters, bookmarks, journals, collectibles and more.
“There are people who come in here that are not readers,” she said. “But they love pop culture. They love movies that are made from books so they come in and buy just that merchandise.”
Hardin estimates merchandise can make up as much as 40% of the Book Rack’s sales.
Hardin also began branching out into new books recently. She says the popularity of Book-Tok, an online ecosystem of influencers making book recommendations on Tik-Tok, makes some orders a very safe bet.
“Book-Tok has made a huge difference in how many books we sell here at the store and how many books that we sell new,” said Hardin. “So I will get on there and see what all the hype is about and then I will buy those. I’ll post that on social media and usually I’ll sell out of those in just a couple days.”
Both stores also zero in their focus on something that is difficult, or impossible, for large online retailers to offer: a relationship with their customers.
Langley makes a point to talk to the regulars who not only purchase books, but trade back in the books that make up the Book Nook's inventory.
“We strike up conversations. You know, ‘how are you today? How's your wife? How’s your husband? How are the kids?’” she said. “And you just don’t get that at big places. You’re just a customer and you don’t really matter. But they do, here they, yeah, they’re part of the family as well. And I couldn’t be here without them.”
This approach creates customers like Richard Henz, who has been a regular patron of the Book Nook since before Langley was manager and its expansion to three storefronts. He appreciates the variety the store offers.
“I like to read Clive Cussler books, I like to read Tom Clancy books,” he said. “But I also, as a biology teacher, a former biology teacher, I like history and stuff like that. So, they have a good selection of nonfiction as well.”
Henz says the Book Nook is even a traditional destination when family visits from out of state.
The Book Rack has its own set of dedicated customers as well.
Meredith Buneta is a Peoria teacher. She's frequently at the Book Rack to find books for her classroom and some Young Adult favorites for herself.
“I think it’s super important for kids to see that it’s locally owned,” Buneta said. “It’s not some far away thing that books and reading can be. It’s close, it’s locally owned, it’s feasible for everyone to come here.”
Then there's something more intangible that's special about a locally owned bookstore. Hardin calls it a "magical environment," created through decorations for genre areas like horror, mystery and children's books.
For Langley, it's the sense of discovery a used bookstore creates.
“When you come to a used bookstore, you just walk around and see what jumps out at you that particular day,” she said. “Because the inventory is always changing and you never know what you’re going to find.”
And who knows? You might just find your new favorite read.
